Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, religious  philosopher. He laid the foundation for the modern theory of probabilities, formulated what came to be known as Pascal’s principle of pressure, and propagated a religious doctrine that taught the experience of God through the heart rather than through reason.

These fragmentary meditations on faith and reason influenced generations of thinkers, both sceptics and believers alike, making this work a fundamental text in the history of western thought and literature.

Provenance: Book Collector and Doctor of Medicine Torben Schiødt (1926–2009).